Hours
Tuesday – Friday| 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday | 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays
Holiday Closures:
New Years Eve, New Years Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day
The Museum will close at 2pm on Saturday, October 30 to prepare for an event.
Admission
Adults: $4
Seniors (60+): $2
College Students: $2
Youth (under 18): Free
Members: Free
Admission is free the First Friday of every month.
For the health and safety of our young visitors, masks are required during your Museum visit, regardless of vaccination status.
Reservations are not necessary at this time but you are welcome to contact us to check and see how busy our galleries are:
831-420-6115×10 or info@santacruzmuseum.org. Weekdays tend to be less crowded than weekends.
Plan Your Visit
Exhibits
The Museum’s exhibits highlight the region’s diverse plant, animal, and human communities from the shoreline of Monterey Bay to the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Live animals and hands-on exhibits invite learners of all ages to connect with science and the natural world. Explore our Exhibits page to see what will be on view during your visit.
Safety
Visitor safety is of the utmost importance to the Museum. Visitors and staff are required to wear masks at all times while inside the Museum and social distancing should be employed while viewing our exhibits and standing in line. To accommodate safe distancing, visitor capacity will be somewhat limited within the public spaces of the Museum, but reservations are not necessary. Museum staff will be sanitizing public objects regularly, and hand sanitization stations are available as you enter and exit. Learn more about what you can expect for our reopening.
Parking
Parking is available on Pilkington Avenue or in surrounding streets. Be Green! Consider walking, biking, or carpooling to visit the Museum. Bike parking available. 1 hour parking permits will be issued to visitors if parking on the Museum-side of Pilkington.
Groups
Due to limited capacity, we are not currently welcoming large groups for guided or self-guided visits during our public hours. If you’d like to make a special request to visit before we open, explore our Group Visit page. To learn more about our school tour programming, visit our Education page.
Accessibility
The Museum is committed to ensuring accessibility for all visitors within our facility. To learn more about mobility, sensory considerations, and more, visit our Accessibility page.
Photography/Art
Photography is welcome in our galleries! Consider tagging the Museum on social media (@santacruzmuseum). Artists may sketch museum specimens on exhibit, and we are happy to provide chairs or stools for your use. To sketch specimens from our collections that are not currently on exhibit, please contact collections@santacruzmuseum.org.
Blue Star Museums
Free admission for active duty military personnel (with valid ID) and their families, Memorial Day through Labor Day.
ASTC Passport Program
Free admission is available to families with a membership card from a reciprocal science museum featuring the ASTC logo. Your participating museum must be located more than 90 miles from the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History for the discount to apply. Learn more.
Museum Store
